New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



"Does anyone see the portal to the next zone?" he asked, turning around to face the rest of the party.

But shaking heads was his only response.

Activating Sky Steps, Astaroth took to the skies, trying to locate the portal. They could hardly proceed forward if they couldn't get to the next zone.

From up there, he stretched out his magical senses again, trying to cover more ground than his eyes could. And he quickly spotted a hotspot of concentrated mana, not too far from them.

But something strange made him frown.

It was right under them.

Using only his mana senses, he could feel a swirl of natural mana, right under the arena grounds. But he couldn't see a way to it.

Astaroth skipped his way back down to the ground, still frowning.

"What's with the strange look?" Phoenix asked him.

Astaroth pointed to the ground.

Phoenix followed his finger, unsure what he was trying to communicate with her.

"What? Why are pointing at the dirt?"

"I'm pointing at the portal. It's a hundred meters that way…"

Phoenix started frowning as well.

"Underground?" she asked.

"Seems like it…" Astaroth replied.

"Are we supposed to dig our way to it?" SharpTusk asked, pulling out his greataxe.

Astaroth shook his head.

"I doubt that. But the truth remains, that it's that way."

A murmur spread through the party.

Astaroth scratched his chin, wondering what the plan was here.

He turned to Phoenix, who had led the party here.

"Did you see any strange underground entrance while coming here? Or maybe an entrance to an underground part of the city?"

Phoenix shook her head no.

"We were busy staying alive and not getting cornered. There wasn't much I could investigate on the way, because of that…"

Astaroth scratched his chin again.

"Aww, man. I really don't want to search for this. We beat that thing, and now we have to search for the portal? That's bullshit!"

Phoenix put her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

"I think it's a reminder from the dungeon that just killing the enemies isn't always enough. We have to use more than just physical might to beat this one. It's a good sign. It means some other part of the dungeon might be a puzzle instead of just a boss and monsters."

Even though Astaroth agreed with her words, it still pissed him off. He hated puzzles.

Puzzles were for people with patience. And that just wasn't him.

"God dammit. Alright, then. Let's split up and cover as much ground as we can. The quicker we proceed, the quicker we leave this damned stage."

Since half their party was casters, and the other half were melee players, he and Phoenix tried splitting their forces into six pairs of equal power. This was easier to say than do, given the wild spectrum of strength their party varied across.

But after a bit of thinking and discussing, they split the party.

Astaroth insisted on being paired with Chronos, even though Phoenix thought he would be better off with Peaceful Grove or Twinxie, given their lower mana reserves and power output. But he didn't care.

Astaroth wanted to talk to Chronos. Something about this player made him curious, and he wanted to talk to him about it.

After splitting up, each pair left in a different direction, extending out from the coliseum, covering as much ground as they could, as they inspected every building, alleyway, street and merchant cart. This had become a treasure hunt, of sorts, and the first party to find the entry point toward the portal would call on the others.

As they left, Astaroth turned to Chronos, who was busy looking at merchant carts and inside buildings.

"So, Chronos. Tell me. What's your deal?"

The fey man turned his head toward Astaroth, tilting it a bit to the side as his face remained placid.

"Hmm? What deal?"

Astaroth squinted his eyes.

"Come on. Don't play coy. You know what I mean."

But Chronos remained poker-faced, his head tilting a little further.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean, guild leader Astaroth…"

Astaroth waved dismissively.

"Just Astaroth is fine. I want to know about your powers, Chronos. What's the deal with those?"

Chronos squinted a bit, wondering why he was asking this.

"Listen, man. I can sense mana in all its forms, as well as its essence. Your magic isn't regular magic. I've seen debuff magic before. It's often white magic or black magic. Yours is different."

Chronos looked at Astaroth with caution. He stopped investigating his surroundings, giving all his focus to Astaroth.

"And what about it?" he asked.

Astaroth smiled.

"I just want to know how a player got to wield magic with a divine essence, that's all. Divine magic doesn't run about the streets. Tell me how you got it."

Chronos slid his hand on his wand, wondering why Astaroth was so curious about it.

"Relax, dude. I'm just curious," Astaroth said, seeing his hand close in on his weapon.

Chronos tensed up a bit.

"Do I have to tell you?"

Astaroth pouted a bit.

"No. I would love to know, but your secrets are your own. If you don't want to share, then let's get back to searching."

Astaroth turned around, heading to a blown-out window, to look into the building.

"A god… taught me." Chronos said, feeling like he could trust him.

With their current proximity, Chronos could see the threads of fate connecting them. As well as all the other threads that seemed to link to Astaroth's.

It was like watching a golden sea anemone, with its threads hovering outward into the world.

Astaroth stopped his movement, turning slowly toward Chronos.

"A god taught you? That doesn't sound right…"

"And yet, it's the truth," Chronos replied.

Astaroth thought about what Nemus had told him, about gods not acting on mortals, lest they accrue the wrath of Gaius. If a god had taught a mortal their magic, it would certainly cause them to be punished, wouldn't it?

"Do you still take lessons from that god?" he asked, curious.

Chronos sighed.

"Not since he dropped me back near Bastion City. I haven't been able to sense him, even in the web of time, ever since. It is like he disappeared from existence itself."

Astaroth frowned.

Was that even possible? But then he thought of how Gaius had imprisoned Psyche and locked her away from the universe, and he nodded to himself.

It was very possible.

"I won't pry more. I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity. But if you ever talk to that god again, I would like to meet them."

Chronos nodded his head.

Both men returned to looking for the entry point below the city in absolute silence.

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